Electric meter.



M. E. TURNER.

ELECTRIC METER. APPLICATION FILED mm 16, 1910.

LWUARfi. r Patented July 11, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET M 3 q! 4,036L

' Y Z /M M. E. TURNER, ELECTRIC METER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 1910'. I 1 ,1 9&485. Patented July 11, 1916.

ILWT UFFTME.

ELECTRIC METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 16, 1910. Serial No. 567,204.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MATHIAS E. TURNER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Electric Meters,

- of which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in electric meters, and moreparticularly to an attachment, which may be conveniently applied toexisting types of meters without the necessity for altering theconstruction thereof, and which attachment, when so applied, will enablethe meter to indicate, at the end of a predetermined time interval, themaximum of the integrated current demands or consumptions duringpredetermined short intervals of time during such period.

The invention shown herein is an improvement upon that shown in PatentNo. 1,012,817, dated Oct. 29, 1912, granted upon an applicationcopending herewith, and more particularly in the construction of themeans for automatically returning tozero position the maximum demandindicatoractuating device; also in the mechanism for automaticallyrewinding the spring which actuates the shaft through which and a trainof clock gearing the connection between the indicator and its actuatingdevice is automatically broken at definite predetermined time intervalsto permit the actuating device to return to-zero position.

Vith the foregoing objects in view, the invention may be defined furtherand generally as consisting of the combinations of elements embodiedmore particularly in the claims hereto annexed and illustrated, in oneembodiment, in the drawings forming part hereof, wherein Figure 1represents a front elevation of a wattmeter having my invention appliedthereto, the cover being removed; Fig. 2 represents a rear elevation ofthe frame which supports the registering mechanism, showing the mannerin which my attachment is applied to said frame; Fig. 3 represents a topplan view of the frame and attachments shown in Fig. 2, together withthe worm gear and worm shaft by which the recording mechanism is driven;Fig. 4 represents a transverse sectional view through the frame onsubstantially-the line 4% of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 represents a viewcorresponding substantially to the line 55 of Fig. 3, looking 1n thedirection of the arrows; Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are those corresponding to thelines 66, 77, and 8-8 respectively of Fig. 3;

Referring now by reference characters to the parts shown in thedrawings, 1 denotes the rear portion of the casing of a wattmeter and 2the disk, which is driven by the current in the usual manner.

' 3 denotes the permanent magnets between which the disk revolves, atthe shoe and 5 the worm shaft which is driven by said disk. A worm onthis shaft meshes with the worm gear 6 on the shaft 7 (see Fig. 3), saidshaft being provided at its front end with a finger 8 adapted to engagea rearwardly projecting finger 9 carried by an arm projecting from theshaft 10. The latter shaft is our naled in the plates 11 and 12. Theformer plate is a special plate which I have substituted for the smalltriangular plate with which meters are usually equipped and, in applyingmy attachment to exlsting types of meters, it is necessary only tosubstitute the plate 11 for the small rear plate with which meters areusually provided. The plate 11 is secured to the plate 12 by means ofscrews 13 and suitable spacing sleeves 14. The motion of the shaft 10 istransmitted by means of a train of reduction gearing on shafts 15, 10,17 and 18 to the pointer on the units dial 19. The motion of the shaft18 is transmitted by means of reduction gearing 20,

20 to a shaft 20 which carries a pointer for the next or tens dial, 20*,and so on, to the shafts 21 and 22 which carry the pointers for thehundreds and thousands dials 23 and 21, respectively. The shaft 18 is ahollow shaft, differing in this respect only from the shaft which isordinarily provided with integrating meters, and is journaled in therear plate 11 and in the front plate 25 of the frame extending throughthe intermediate plate 12, while the shafts 20, 21 and 22 are journaled.in the plates 12 and 25.

26 denotes an indicator which co-act's with a scale 27 to indicate themaximum demand for current during a predetermined time interval. Theindicator 26 is mounted on a shaft 28 which is sleeved within the hollowshaft 18 and projects r'earwardly through the shaft 18 and through therear plate 11 of the frame and is there provided with an outwardlyprojecting arm 29 which is adapt- Patented July 11, 1916.

ed to be engaged by a finger or projection 31 mounted on a stud or shaft32 which is carried by the short arm of a lever 33, said lever beingpivotal] y supported from a post 34. carried by the rear plate 11 andbeing provided at the end of its long arm with a projection 35 by meansof which and the clock work mechanism, to be described hereinafter, thelever is automatically operated at predetermined time intervals to allowthe gear 31 to be returned to its initial position by the gravity of thefinger or projection 30; that is to say, the gear is set in a positionin which, if the arm and projection were in engagement, the indicator 26would be at zero. Normally, the weight and length of the long arm of thelever will retain the gear 31 in mesh with a gear 36 which is mountedupon a short shaft 37, said shaft being journaled in the frame 11 and abracket 38 carried by said frame, the shaft being provided with a pinion39 by means of which it may be driven through a gear 40, mounted on ashaft 41 journaled similarly to the shaft 37 and having a driving pinion42. This pinion, in turn, is driven by a gear 43 on the hollow shaft 18and the gear 43 is driven from the shaft 10 by means of suit- .ablereduction gearing interposed between the shaft 10 and by the shafts 15,16 and 17. The gear 36 is provided with a conical projection 36 which isadapted to be engaged by a suitable tapered friction gear 80 for thepurpose of rotating the gear 36 and the shaft 37 and thereby drive theshaft 28 around to zero position when the meter is read, say at the endof the month. The friction gear will be supported in the same manner asthe beveled gear shown in my prior patent above referred to and will beoperated in like manner to rotate the gear 36. The gear 80 is carried bya shaft 81 slidably and rotatably journa'led in brackets 82 projectingfrom the plate 11. A spring 83 presses against a collar 84 carried bythis shaft and normally holds the same in elevated position with thewheel 80 discon nected from the disk 36*. The gear 36 is normallymaintained in driving relation with the shaft 37 by suitable frictionmeans such as the spring washer 85. The end of the shaft 81 may besquared as shown at 86 in Fig. 2 for the reception of a key. The gear31, with its finger or projection 30, constitute an actuating device forthe indicator 26. and the shaft 37 and the gear 36 constitute .acurrent-driven-member or device for operating the actuating device.

With the parts arranged as described thus; far. it will be seen that thegears 31 and 36 will be held in mesh or in engagement by means of thelong arm of the lever 33. It will be apparent that, if this engagementbetweenthe gear'sbe broken, the gear 31 and its projection 30 will beset to their initial position by the weight of said projection.

For the purpose of enabling the indicator 26 to indicate the amount ofcurrent integrated bythe meter during that predetermined short intervalof time at which the demand was at a maximum, I provide means wherebythe engagement between the gears 31 and 36 may be broken periodically atequal, short time intervals, to enable the gear 31 and the projection 30to be set to its initial position at the end of each such interval. Forthe purpose of so breaking the engagement, I provide a train of clockgearing comprising a shaft which is rotated continuously by means of aspring, the shaft having means for periodically rocking the lever andthus moving the gear 31 away from the gear 36. To insure the uniformityof the short time intervals which is necessary for the successful andaccurate operation of the indicator 26, I provide means whereby thespring which rotates the aforesaid shaft may be kept under substantiallyconstant tension. The construction for accomplishing these results willnow be described.

44 denotes a shaft which is supported by the plate 11 and a bracket 45projecting rearwardly and downwardly from said plate. On this shaft ismounted a spring drum 46 within which is coiled the spring 47, havingone end connected to the drum and the other end to the shaft. This drumis provided with a ratchet gear 48 on its peripheral surface. A pawl 49is pivotally supported by the bracket, as shown at 50, (see Fig. 6) andis provided with a detent 51 adapted to engage the ratchet teeth. Thepawl is provided with an arm 52 which normally retains, by gravity, thedetent 51 in engagement with the ratchet teeth.

A wheel 53 is mounted on the shaft 44, said wheel having a plurality ofradial arms 54, each having a projection 55 which is adapted to engagethe projection 35 on the lever and thus rock the lever and move the gear31 thereon out of engagement with the gear 36. \Vith the lconstructiondescribed, it will be apparent that, forevery revolution of the shaft44, the lever 33 will be rocked four times, each time carrying the' gear31 out of engagement with the gear 36 and enabling the gear 31 to be setback to its initial position a corresponding number of times. As soon asthe projection 55 of an arm 54 is disengaged from the projection 35 ofthe lever, the gear 31 is moved by gravity into engagement with the gear36. Should the current consumption during any one of these shortintervals of time exceed that forany preceding interval, the projection30 will engage the arm 29 and advance the shaft 28 and the indicator 26correspondingly.

' 'The shaft 44 comprises part of a small and simple clock mechanism,which is carried entirely by the plate 11 and is indicated generally atA, in Fig. 3 and comprises the. usual parts of such clock work,including a balance wheel 56, escapement mechanism 57, and reductiongearing, indicated generally at 58, 59, 60.

The spring'within the drum 46 is kept under constant tension by means ofthe automatic winding device, now to be described.

This winding device comprises a solenoid 61 supportedby a bracket 62projecting rearwardly from the plate 11 and forming a support for theend of the long arm of the lever 33 and retaining the gears 31 and 36 inmesh. The solenoid core 63 has pivoted thereto the ends of a pair ofarms 64 which are pivotally mounted on the shaft 44. Between the arms 64is pivoted the pawl 65, which pawl is adapted to engage the ratchetteeth 48 on the periphery of the drum 46. It will be evident that, whenthe solenoid is energized, the upward movement of the core will impartarotary movement to the drum and will wind the spring. The means by whichthe solenoid circuit will be periodically closed to produce thisautomatic winding of the spring 47 will be described hereinafter. Atthis stage it should be noted that ashaft is employed for making andbreaking the circuit and that this shaft is driven at a greater rate ofspeed than the shaft 44, making preferably eight revolutions to onerevolution of the latter shaft. Assuming that the latter shaft rotatesonce an hour, the solenoid will be energized every seven-and-one-halfminutes, or twice for every operation of the lever 33 by an arm of thewheel 53. The spring'47 will therefore be automatically wound atpredetermined short intervals of time. The throw of the core 63'andofthe pawl 65 is so proportioned to the number of teeth 48 on the drumthat the drum is rotated a slightly greater distance than the spring isunwound between the intervals of winding. To prevent too great tensionfrom being exerted on the spring, the strength of the solenoid is suchthat, when the spring reaches a certain tension, the closing of thesolenoid circuit will not produce a move ment of the core and the springwill not be wound. With the-arrangement described, it will be seen thatthe spring is re-wound twice during each demand period, thereby causingthe power of the spring to be the same for every maximum demand period,while the additional fact that the re-winding contacts are operated by ashaft geared rigidly to the cam shaftcauses this rewinding to take placealways at the same instant as regards the wheel disengagement. I esteemit sufficient for purposes of my invention that the rewinding shouldtake place always at period! less than the maximum demand periods andpreferably at strictly equal intervals for thus the periods betweenresettings are made more nearly accurate than would be the case were therewindings to come irregularly or at periods greater than the periodsbetween re-settings, since in either of the latter cases, the amount offorce exerted by the spring would not be always uniform during the wholeof each period and the rate of rotation of the cam and consequently theindication of the instrument would vary.- The particular period of halfthat of the maximum demand interval has been selected for illustrationsolely because of the fact that fifteen minutes is a convenient demandinterval and that seven and one-half minutes is a convenient period withrespect to the design and construction of chronometers.

For the purpose of making and breaking the circuit, including thesolenoid, I provide a. pair of terminals 66 and 67, said terminals beingin the solenoid circuit. These terminals are preferably flat springssupported each at one end and each having its free end carried on a cammounted on a shaft 68 of the clock mechanism. The cam for the terminal67 is represented at 69 and is shown as a cam of the snail type and hastwo abrupt shoulders 7 O. The cam for the terminal 66 is shown at 71 andis of similar character, but of less diameter than the cam 69. The cam71 is provided with a pair of abrupt shoulders 72. The shoulders arelocated very slight-1y in advance of the shoulder 72, with the resultthat, as the shaft 68 rotates, the platinum contact 67 of the terminal67 drops down onto the platinum contact 66 of the terminal 66 just longenough to close the circuit including the solenoid and energize thelatter. Immediately thereafter, the contact 66 rides off its shoulder 72and breaks the circuit thus momentarily closed. This construction ofcircuit-closing mechanism provides a quick closing and a quick breakingof the circuit and prevents the burning out of the contacts.Furthermore, the circuit closing mechanism is removed from the mechanismcontacts, so that the latter are unaffected by the circuit whichincludes the solenoid.

One of the great advantages of the invention shown herein is itsadaptability to eX- isting meters with a minimum of alteration in suchmeters to accommodate the same. It is only necessary to remove the shortplate to which the plate 11 of my attachment corresponds, havingpreviously provided the plate 11 with the necessary apertures orbearings for the shafts which extend between the plate 12 and thepredecessor of the plate 11 (for instance, the shafts 10, 15, 16, 17 and18.) The shafts 37 and 41 and the gears carried thereby, the lever 33and gear 31, the clock-work mechanism and the rewinding mechanismtherefor will all be carried by the plate 11. This arrangement makes theapplication of my attachment to existing meters a matter of extremesimplicity and convenience.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a maximumdemand indicator for existing electric meters, of the typev having adial and a gear train in the rear of said dial plate, the combination ofa plate having bearings and securing devices-arranged similar to thebearings and securing devices of a plate of the existing meter andadapted to be substituted therefor, said plate also having an extension,a maximum demand shaft extending through said plate and dial, a maximumdemand pointer secured to the forward end of said shaft, a gear mountedbeyond the inner end of said shaft, driving connections between saidgear and shaft whereby said shaft will be rotated when said gearrevolves in a forwarddirection and will be left stationary when saidgear rotates rearwardly, a gear operated by the meter train and adaptedto rotate said first gear in a forward direction, chronometric devicescarried by said extension, a leverpivoted to said plate and carrying oneof said gears, cam means carried by said chronometric devices andarranged to rock said lever at predetermined intervals, so as toseparate said gears, and means operative during such separation to setsaid shaft and pointer to Zero position.

2. In an electric meter, the combination of a frame comprising a pairofspaced plates, a third plate spaced from one of said plates anddetachably secured thereto, an indicator at the front of the first plateof the series, a shaft for said indicator extending through all of saidplates and provided at its rear end with an arm, acurrent driven shaftprojecting rearwardly from the last plate of the series, reductiongearing interposed between the second and third plates, a lever pivotedto the third plate, a gear supported near one end of said lever andhaving a projection adapted to engage the projecting armof the indicatorshaft, a connection between the last mentioned gear and the train ofreduction gearing, and clockmechanism carried entirelyby the last plateand arranged to engage intermittently the end of the lever arm oppositethe gear and rock the lever to separate said gear from the train ofreduction gearing.

3. In an electric meter, the combination of a frame comprising a pair ofspaced plates and a third plate detachably connected to the rear plateof the'pair, an indicator shaft extending through all of said plates andhaving an indicator on its front end and an operating projection nearits rear end, a current driven shaft, and a tram of reduction gearingextending betweenthe second and third plates, the shaft for the lastgear'in said train projecting rearwardly through the rear plate andhaving a gear thereon, a stud projecting rearwardly from the last plate,a lever pivoted to said stud and having a gear near one end thereofprovided with a projection for operating the indicator shaft, and timemechanism carried entirely by the third or rear plate and comprising ashaft having one or more projections at the rear of the plate andadapted to engage the arm of the lever opposite the gear.

4. In an electric meter, the combination of a frame comprising a-pair ofplates and athird and rear plate detachably secured to one of saidplates, an indicator shaft projecting through said plates and having atthe rear of the third plate an operating projection, a current drivenshaft, a lever pivoted to the rear of the third plate and having a geararranged to drive said shaft through said projection, clock-workmechanism carried by the third plate for automatically operating thelever to set the gear to zero position at predetermined short timeintervals, and means for winding said mechanism, the demand period beingan exact multiple of the rewinding period.

5. A maximum demand attachment for meters comprising a plate adapted tobe attached to the rear of the registering device and having bearingsfor the usual reduction train forming part of said device, said platebeing provided with a current driven gear adapted to be constantly inoperative connection with the registering device, a gear adapted tointermittently engage and disengage said current driven gear, and to ad-Vance an indicator-during its engaged condition and to be set back tozero position during its disengaged condition, and a constant speedshaft carried by said plate and provided with means for engaging anddisengaging said gears at predetermined times.

6. In an electric meter, the combination, of an indicator, meansincluding a movable member for operating said indicator, cam means fordisengaging said member at predetermined time intervals to thereby allowthe same to return to its initial position, a spring-drivenescapenient-controlled clock governing the operation of said cam means,and means governed by the clock itself for rewinding the driving springat equal time intervals, the interval between successive rewindingsbeing not greater than the interval between successive disengagements ofsaid movable member and being an exact factor thereof.

7 In an electric meter, the combination of an indicator, means includinga movable member for operating said indicator, cam means for disengagingsaid member at predetermined time intervals to permit the same to returnto its initial position, a spring-j driven, escapement-controlled clockgoverning the operation of said cam means, and means operating at afixed angular relation to said cam means for effecting the rewind-- ingof the driving spring.

8. In an electric meter, the combination, of an indicator, meansincluding a movable member for operating said indicator, cam means fordisengaging said member at predetermined time intervals to permit thesame to return to its initial position, a springdriven,escapement-controlled clock governing the operation of said cam means,rewinding means for the clock spring, and means governed by the movementof the clock parts for causing the actuation of said rewinding means atperiods of which the period between successive disengagements of saidmovable member is an integral multiple.

9. In a metering device the combination; with a maximum demand indicatorocE the type comprising integrating mechanism,'a body adapted to beactuated during each interval of time to an extent dependent upon thetotal quantity of electricity that shall have passed through saidapparatus during the interval,

an indicator adapted to be moved in one direction by said body and toremain in th'e position into which it is moved, a spring drivenchronometrie device, means operated by said chronometric device fordisconnecting said body from said integrating mechanism, and means forreturning said body to its original position during such disconnection;of automatic means for rewinding said chronometric device at intervalsnot longer than and exact factors of the maximum demand period.

10. In a metering device the combination, with integrating mechanism,registering mechanism adapted to be driven from said integratingmechanism, spring driven chronometric devices adapted to disconnect saidregistering mechanism from said integrating mechanism at predeterminedequal intervals of time, and means governed by said chronometric devicesand adapted to rewind the spring thereof at equal intervals not longerthan and an exact factor of the first mentioned equal intervals of time.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses.

MATHIAS E. TURNER.

Witnesses:

J. B. HULL, ALBERT H. BATES.

